eliza pursed her lips as she dropped the final box onto the coffee table in james and thomas's living room.

"thanks for all of your help, guys."

james and thomas were seated on the couch, each having carried one box and then stopped to "take a break." (their break consisted of them sitting on the couch and watching eliza struggle with the rest of the boxes) now they just grinned up at her innocently.

"no problem, mon amour," thomas replied smoothly, and eliza frowned.

"what's that mean?" it was official now; she hated french-speaking people. her sisters had both learned the language, but eliza had preferred music and choir lessons over foreign languages.

"it means 'my friend,'" james replied quickly, elbowing thomas in the ribs. "but it's... well, basically, he's teasing you."

eliza rolled her eyes, leaning against a stack of boxes. "where are we going to put all these?" she asked, dropping the subject quickly.

"uh..." thomas frowned and glanced at james, who shrugged.

"i don't really need a permanent place to keep them, just until i've worked enough to move out," she added quickly. "i don't want to be a bother for too long."

"oh, you're not a bother, lizzy, we love having you here!" james interjected.

"yeah, it's nice having someone here to wash the dishes and do laundry an- ow!" thomas yelped as eliza tossed one of her books at him, hitting him square in the forehead.

"hey! what w-" thomas was cut off by a knock at the door.

"who is it?" thomas called out, standing up, but eliza beat him to the door.
"

pizza!" a female voice called out, sounding overly cheerful, and somehow familiar to eliza. she frowned, turning the door handle, intending to inform the woman that she had the wrong apartment. but as soon as the door was open, a blur of yellow burst into the apartment.
"-and peggy!" the girl laughed, and eliza gasped, turning to hug her sister and almost squashing the two boxes of pizza she held in front of her chest.
"peggy! i didn't know you were coming! how did you know where to find me?" eliza laughed, hugging her sister tightly.
peggy dropped the pizza on one of eliza's boxes before squeezing her older sister in a tight embrace. "easy, i just asked alex. he was quick to answer, but you should have heard him go on and on about-" she broke off, seeming to suddenly realize that james and thomas were there.
"oh! alex didn't mention that your new roommates were so... hot. you have to introduce me, eliza!"
peggy let out a loud laugh, while eliza, james, and thomas all blushed.
"i'm james. madison. james madison. pleasure to meet you." james held out his hand for a polite handshake, but he was quickly pulled into a hug.
"so then you," peggy said as she pulled away from james, "must be thomas."
"that's me!" he raised his fist, and peggy bumped it.
"well, i'm peggy, and i brought pizza and i'm here for the tea so let's go!"
ignoring the stacks of boxes around them, the four collapsed into the floor, pizza boxes in the center of their almost-circle. they each managed to grab a slice before peggy started drilling them.
"yes, peg, i'm sleeping in a different room from them."
"sorry i didn't tell you we broke up. i actually haven't told anyone yet besides them-"
"miss schuyler-"
"oh my god call me peggy!"
"okay, peggy, do we need to tip you for delivering the pizza?"

they had finished a complete pizza and were making their way through the second one before peggy finally started asking about the breakup.
"why did you two break up? i thought you two were, like, the otp of all otps!"

eliza cringed slightly. "yeah, well... we're not." she wasn't sure why she was so worried about answering. it wasn't as though peggy would judge her, it's just that she tended to speak before thinking.

"seriously, what could you have possibly some to make him hate you so much?"

case in point.

"he hates me?" eliza was astonished, but also more than a little pissed. "he- he has no right!"

peggy grimaced as james put a comforting hand on eliza's knee. "i'm not sure, really, if he hates you or himself. it was a little hard to tell."

eliza fell silent at that. she didn't want alex to hate anyone. but that probably couldn't be helped, and besides, he had messed up.

"it's fine, pegs. its just- he cheated on me." eliza almost felt ashamed of herself as she muttered the words.

glancing around, she saw james staring sadly into his lap, thomas clenching his fists, and peggy staring at her, mouth wide. she forced a smile. "but it's all good now."

noting that none of them seemed all that assured, eliza sighed. "hey, why don't we play a game or something?"

peggy let out a gasp. "never have i ever!" she shrieked, and that was that. and suddenly the smile wasn't so forced.

· · ·

"never have i ever... had a boyfriend," peggy giggled. at first they had just been using their fingers to count how many things they had done, but it didn't take long before thomas revealed the vodka and shot glasses, and peggy was already wasted.

then again, so was eliza.

eliza, thomas, and john all took a shot, and eliza gaped at them. "you've had a boyfriend?"

thomas and james just blinked slowly, and peggy snorted.

"'liza, babe, i think you're losing your touch," she laughed. eliza just flashed her a confused look.

"lizzy... james and i are dating."

eliza's eyes suddenly widened, and her mouth made a little 'o' shape. then she let out a snort. "you two?"

james's face was a deep red, a color eliza had never seen on someone's face before, and thomas was fidgeting awkwardly.

"y- yeah, us," thomas replied, but his voice was a little unsteady, as though he were nervous.

eliza burst into giggles. the boys shot her embarrassed looks, and she clapped a hand to her mouth, attempting to stifle her laughter.

"i'm sorry!" she exclaimed, her voice partially muffled by her hand. "i just- i can't believe i never realized that you two were dating!"

thomas and james exchanged a look. thomas pursed his lips, but he couldn't stop a smile from breaking his façade. james, on the other hand, still looked highly embarrassed.

when eliza still struggled to contain her laughter, james stood and ran off. peggy gaped after him, and thomas stood as if to follow, but eliza stopped him.

"let me," she said softly, her laughter suddenly gone. "i am the reason he's upset after all."

thomas hesitated but let her go. eliza quickly made her way to the bathroom and tapped lightly on the door. "james?"

she could picture him on the other side, scrambling to hide his years before-

james opened the door, just a crack

eliza caught a glimpse of a tear-streaked face and red eyes. "james i'm so sorry, i never meant to make fun of you. i just- i didn't know."

james seemed to hesitate a moment, glancing down before he opened the door further.

as soon as she could fit through, eliza burst in and wrapped her arms around james's neck sloppily, still tipsy.

james immediately wrapped his arms around her. "i'm sorry, i'm sorry," he mumbled. "i'm a mess when i'm drunk."

for some reason, that made both of them start to giggle. "we're drunk," eliza reiterated, laughing harder.

they quickly collapsed in a giggling, drunk mess on the floor, which is how thomas and peggy found them a few minutes later.

[woahhhh the chapters are getting longerrrr yay! also the papers will show up next chapter cause I didn't want le angsty angst yet]